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Friday, January 11, 2013

G12P has been fortunate to have a lot of different people on our crew over the years. While we still have 5 of our original 8 crew members, there were times when we had as many as 30 crew members. It has been an awesome experience getting to know so many people this way. I did, however learn some lessons, especially this last year.
1. Do a background check. I can not express enough how important that is. Last year I took on several new people and later found out two had felony records for forgery. It was a real problem, and I ultimately had to let them go. There was just no way around it. They could never do a private investigation with a record like that. Had I been told about it from the start I would not have brought them on the crew. I know that is why they didn't say anything, but if I had done a background check, I would have known. DO A BACKGROUND CHECK ON ALL POTENTIAL NEW CREW MEMBERS!
2. Work on making an agreement concerning attending any public events you have. If you are busy, like we are, sometimes it turns out that a few of the same people end up doing a lot of the work. It is not hard to agree to attend a minimum of 6 functions a year to stay active on the crew. That is reasonable, and your crew gets along with each other a lot better.

3. Make sure everyone on your crew has a specific job they are responsible for. We have Leads in areas like Lead Technician, Lead Investigator, Lead Event Set-Up, Lead Costumes, Lead Research, etc. Everyone has a job and one person is not stuck doing all the work.

4. Do not handle all your communication on Facebook. We have tried and failed at this. It is far too easy to get into arguments that end friendships. There is texting, emails, and the good old phone to keep in touch with your crew members.
5. If things are slow for you, be sure to schedule regular crew meetings as a chance to connect with everyone on your team. You might even want to schedule something on a social basis to improve your crew relationships. We go to the movies together, plan picnics and even parties and card nights. Once a year we also have an award night, giving out certificates for things like Best with EVP or Best Picture Taken. We have 25 categories for our awards.

6. Try not to get too much "crew" equipment. For G12P, the only equipment we bought together is our camera system. Everyone has their own Camera, Recorders, and then people bring their own special equipment like Ghost Boxes, phones with Ghost Radar, Lasar Grids, etc. What is yours is yours and when you leave, yours goes with you.
These are just some ideas on ways to get your crew to get along better with each other. Lessons learned in the field have guided us to these conclusions and these tips work for us. Are we perfect? No. Far from it, but we never stop working at it and that only strengthens our ability as a team. Any questions or comments, please feel free to let us know!

About Kimberly Frazier Mitchell

I have been researching and ghost hunting since February of 2003. I have also explored a good portion of the Columbiana County area. I have an all new crew and we are working to have our own building as a head quarters and a place to do paranormal investigations. We currently have the Old East End Jr High, and it is proving to be very actively haunted. Ghost hunting has become a huge part of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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